Oil refining still



Jan. 12;"1932.

O. E. ANDRUS ET AL OIL REFINING STILL Filed July 15, 1928 INVENTORS.'

0km/Y E. AND/vus Afm, SI1/vf HERMA/isch# ATTORNEY.

yPatented Jan. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES-,PATENT "on-Ica ORBIN E. ANDRUS AND SUNE HERMANSON, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ABSIGNOBS TO A. 0. SMITH CORPORATION, OF- MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF :mw Vvom:

OIL BEFINING STILL Application illed .Tuk 13,

Our present invention relates to stills and other vessels and is designed primarily to be used in the oil refining industry; but it may be used equally aswell in other types ofvessels in which the steel structure forming the equipment is subject to the destructive corrosive action of liquids and gases. The invention resides 1n an improvement 1n the man-y `ner ofconstructing thevessel disclosed in our prior application, filed October 29, A1927, Serial No. 229,780, on which Letters Patent No. 1,680,276 were granted August 14, 1928. Y

In producing the structure 'disclosed in the said rior application, the body of the vessel was'l rst fa ricated,|and the thin, imperforate sheet constituting the liner therefor was then positioned in the vessel and was joined thereto by electric welding through the liner sheet.

In our further experimentation in this branchl of the industry, we have successfully' demonstrated that the, method of applyin the thin lining` sheet as vdisclosed in the sai prior application, can be greatly simplified with entirely satisfactory results, and we now present our claim for the improvement.

In carrying out our present invention,fwe apply to one side of the thick metal backing plates of which the body of the still sections are formed, while in their fiat state, thin, imperforate, flat sheets of corrosion resisting metal of the character specified in our prior application. These thin lining sheets have,

-\ of corrosion resisting material, united in such lman'ner-as to producel an integral structure. wl

A suitable number of such integral sections be assembled endto end andelectrically' 1938. Serial No. 292,376.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a corn'-V posite plate,broken Iaway at th left hand end, constructed in accordance with our improved method.

Fig. 2 is a erspective view of a tubular section, formed) by the bending of the dat composite plate shown in Fig.e1.

Fig. 3 is a like view showing the tubular ,section as welded along the meeting ends of the plate, to form an integral structure.

F1g.'4 is a view in elevation, partly broken out, of a still or vessel constructed in accord.- ance with our improved method.

In carrying out our invention we place upon a thick backing plate of steel 10, a thin, imperforatemetal sheet 11 of corrosion resisting metal, such as chromium steel, or any other' metal having the necessary'resisting properties. We then bond the thin sheet 11 to the backing plate 10 by electrically welding the sheet 11 at frequent and contiguous points, as 12, so as to. practically unite lthe plates into an integral structure.

The composite late is then rolled, ressed or bent into the orm of a tube 13, with the `ends of the plate meeting in alinement. On account of the thickness of the metal, and to facilitate welding such ends, when the ,electric-,arc is u'sed, a'dee 'and narrowwelding groove 14 should be ormed at the meeting line.l An electric arc at the free end of a metallic 4weld rod is operatedinthegroove to fuse the walls thereof, and the roove is filled by ,the deposit of molten meta .flowing from' the destructible weld rod, so as to form lthe welded line 15.' The welding operation may be` facilitated by lacing in the groove, slugs or barsfof suita le metal, and fusing -such slugs or bars by the electric arc, so that welded joint. 1

the metal thereof will be incorporated inrthe' A4 plurality of the tubular sections 13 are then arranged end to end and welded together at their circumferential meeting lines as at 16, so as to produce a tubular structure of the desired length. The vessel is then completed by welding heads 17 thereto. Such heads may be conveniently formed from composite plates of the construction shown in Fig. l, or they may be formed by first drawing the thick plates into cup shapes, and then applying and welding the thin, imperforate sheet lining thereto. The heads are welded to the ends of the tubular structure, as at 18, by circumferential Welds, in

the manner before set forth. l Preferably the lining sheets 11 -are attached to the backing plates 10 by resistance welding, and this may be effected by spotting or by a roller contact. In any manner of attachin sheet to the acking plate, the bonding points between the two will be so close together that the connection of the plates will be complete. The composite plates may bel rolled, pressed orbentwithout disturbing the relative positions of the plates, or breaking thebonds which unite them. The more numerous the bonding points 12, the more rapid will be the conduction of heat through the vessel during the operating cycle. y

While `we have shown the composite plates as converted into annular sections, it will be within the scope of our invention to bend such plates on longitudinal lines into troughlike sections, which latter will be welded to' gether on the meeting lines of their longitudinal edges.

After the tubular structure has been completed as described, the joining lines at the inside of the still or vessel should be overwelded with -an arc con ucted by a .fusible weld rod of metal having the properties of the linin or otherwise welded or treated, so as to avoid the exposure upon the interior of the vessel of any of the carbon steel of the body structure.

The improved method permits the attainment of the purposes of the invention, that is, applying the non-corrosive liner, in ay very expeditious, economical" and satisfactory manner. Inithe bending operation, we have found that the best results are attained when the composite plate is heated to a temperature of about 13000 F. When heated to a `lower temperature, it 4is -difiicult lt'o avoid creeping -of the lining sheet, and a smooth lining cannot be produced. When heated to a higher temperature, the metal of the thick backing plate is unduly softened so that the bonded points are liable to rupture, with the result that the rate of heat conduction is lowered by reason of the disturbance of the bonded l points.

In some instances, we propose to reverse or duplicate the operation of surfacing the the thin, imperforate liningV plates so lined to a rolling temperature,

thick steel plate, electric resistance thick plates, and apply the lining sheet to the exterior surface of the thickplates in the same manner so as to protect the outer surface of the vessel from attack by destructive agencies.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A method of making a thick walled vessel normally subjected to corrosive action which comprises applying a thin sheet of corrosion resistant metal to the surface of a thick steel base plate, said sheet having a thickness less than the thickness of said steel plate and having a yield oint not less than that of the steel plate, uniting by resistance welding distributed contacting portions ofthe sheet and plate to form a composite plate having a surface of corrosion resistant metal, the relative thickness of said plate and sheet causing the jointure between said sheet and plate to be offset from the medial longitudinalplane of the composite plate, heating a plurality of composite plates so lined to a rolling temperature, bending said heated lates into sections capable of being assemble into a cylindrical bod with the liner disposed on the interior sur ace thereof, assembling and welding said sections edge .to edge to complete the body of the vessel, and welding end sections to said body to complete the vessel.y

2. -A method of making a thick walled vessel normally subjected to corrosive action which comprises applyin a thin sheet of corrosion resistant metal to t e surface of a thick steel base pl'ate, said sheet having a thickne less than the vthickness of said steel plate and having a yield point not less than that of the steel plate, electric resistance spot welding the juxtoposed faces of said sheet and plate at close and contiguous points to thereby form a composite plate having an integral surface of corrosin resistant metal, the relative thickness of said plate and sheet causing the ljointure between said sheet and plate to be oifset from the medial longitudinal plano of the lined plate, heating a plurality of bending said heated plates into sections capable of being assembled into `a cylindrical'body with the liner disposed on the interior surface thereof, assembling and welding said sections edge to edge to complete the body of the vessel, and-welding end sections to said body to complete the vessel.

'p 3. A method of making a thick walled vessel 'normally subjected to corrosive action which comprises applying a sheet of corrosion resistant chromium alloy tothe surface of a spot welding the juxtaposed faces of the sheet and plate at close and contiguous points to thereby form a. composite plate having a surface of chromium'alloy, the relative thickness of said sheet andplate being such that the jointure between said sheet and plate is substantially oiset from the longitudinal medial plane of the lined plate, bending a plurality of plates so formed, into complementary sections'capable of being assembled into a cylindrical vessel having a substantiall continuous chromium alloy interior sur ace, and assembling and electrically welding said secm tions edge to edge to complete the vessel.

In testimony whereof, wehave signed our names at Milwaukee,

this 9th day of July, 1928. p

ORRIN E. ANDRUS. SUNE HERMANSON. 

